Season 15, Theory and Technique

15.34: Writing Deliberate Discomfort

6 Comments

Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, Lari, and Erin

How do you proceed when the story you want to write includes elements that make you personally uncomfortable?  In this episode we step out of our own comfort zones to examine this challenge, and to offer some strategies to you.

Credits: This episode was recorded remotely, and mastered by Alex Jackson

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Write a short story from the POV of a character with whom you disagree.

“The Lamentation of Their Women,” by Kai Ashante Wilson

Season 15, Theory and Technique

15.33: The Long, Dark Second Act of the Soul

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Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard

Many Writing Excuses listeners have asked us how we muscle through writing second acts, those big, chonky “middles” of our stories. In this episode we attempt to provide answers.

Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. The title of this episode is a nod to the second Dirk Gently novel from Douglas Adams.

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Take a favorite book, movie, or whatever: attempt to identify where the second act begins and ends. Then make a list of what you love about the second act. Now take that list, and map it onto your OWN second act, in order to build a second act that you love.

Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett

Career and Lifestyle, Guest, Season 15, Theory and Technique

15.32: Short Story Markets

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Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, and Lari, with special guest Erin Roberts

Erin Roberts joins us for a discussion of short story markets—a topic which is very susceptible to “churn” because of the way short story markets come and go. We cover how to research and evaluate the various markets based on what you need from publication, and what you might reasonably expect from them.

Credits: This episode was recorded remotely during the Great Isolation, and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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Pick a couple of contemporary short fiction writers. Track their publication history, and get a feel for how their writing career has developed.

Nebula Awards Showcase 2019, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Career and Lifestyle, Demonstration, Guest, Q&A, Season 15

15.31: The Agent in the Room

4 Comments

Your Hosts: Dan, Dongwon, Piper, and Howard

You had questions for agents, Dongwon has answers!

  • How do you go about becoming an agent?
  • How do an agent and author work together?
  • At what point do agent and author talk about the “sticky stuff?”

Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex Jackson

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Make a list of the questions, especially the hard ones, you want to ask prospective agents.

Extreme Makeover: A Novel, by Dan Wells

Guest, Live Audience, Theory and Technique

15.30: Write What You Want To Know, with Laurell K. Hamilton

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Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, and Howard, with special guest Laurell K. Hamilton

We’ve all heard the “write what you know” rule. Laurell K. Hamilton joined us to talk about how she got started by writing what she wanted to know. In this episode we discuss our various paths to learning the things that fascinate us, and which we want to be able to write about.

Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson

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I was walking home from work one day…

Noir Fatale, edited by Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell, with stories by Laurel K. Hamilton, David Weber, Griffin Barber, Steve Diamond, and more

Guest, Live Audience, Season 15, Theory and Technique

15.29: Barbie Pre-Writing, with Janci Patterson and Megan Walker

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Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, and Howard, with special guests Janci Patterson and Megan Walker

Janci Patterson and Megan Walker joined us to talk about their pre-writing process, which involves role-playing in a room full of dioramas with Barbie dolls.

As pre-writing processes go, this one was completely new to us, and we very quickly decided that we love it.

Credits: this episode was recorded live at NASFIC by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson

 

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Role-play, with toys, a scene from something you’ve written.

The Extra, by Janci Patterson, and Megan Walker
Godfire, by Cara Witter

Season 15, Theory and Technique

15.28: Small Evils

5 Comments

Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard

Small evils? Yes, please! This episode isn’t about writing the big villainy of world domination, but about focusing on the more relatable villainy of small evils—the little crimes, the minor antagonisms—which can be the key to connecting the reader to the book.

Liner Notes: The deadly nightshade incident Howard described is something he mentioned on Twitter as well. If you need a concrete example of a small evil and/or an external cost, there it is!

Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson

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Base a villain on yourself

The Kingdom of Liars, by Nick Martel

Guest, Live Audience, Season 15, Theory and Technique

15.27: Alternate History, with Eric Flint

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Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, and Howard, with special guest Eric Flint

Eric Flint joined us at SpikeCon (host of the 2019 NASFIC) to talk about creating  alternate histories. His Ring of Fire book series is enormous in scope, and has many, many more people working on it than just Eric Flint. We get a bit of a peek behind the scenes, and a lot of great information about writing alternate histories of our own.

Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson

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Plan your day so you know which bit to write first. Sit down and write something first.

1632: Ring of Fire Book 1, by Eric Flint